Calamity for Charlie
by SlytherinsDestiny
Summary: When a newfound love for dragons lands Pansy in Romania after graduation, she is forced to work with a blood traitor. Will she give in to past prejudices? Or will love hatch between her and the goofy loving ginger?


✨Story Title: Calamity for Charlie

✨Rating: T

✨Genre: Best Plot Twist, Best Angst, Pairing I Didn't Know I Needed, Best Accident, Most Creative Use of Spell.

✨Pairing: Pansy Parkinson / Charlie Weasley

✨Summary: When a newfound love for dragons, lands Pansy in Romania after graduation, she is forced to work with a blood traitor. Will she give in to past prejudices? Or will love hatch between her and the goofy loving ginger?  
_

Pansy stood in line for the floo to be taken to Romania. The Ministry has assigned her there after she passed her exams, receiving some of the highest scores on record, second only to the Ministry's dragon expert, in which will become her mentor. She had obsessed over the scaly beasts ever since the first task of the TriWizard Tournament her fourth year at Hogwarts. When her turn finally came to go through, she took a breath, tossing her hair confidently over her shoulder as she stepped into the grate.

"Romania Ministry of Magic!" She held her bag strap tighter and closed her eyes. She didn't much like this way of travelling, as it made her stomach turn, but in minutes she was slowing down. She opened her eyes in time to catch herself.

"You must be Ms. Parkinson, am I correct?"

Pansy looked up and tried keeping the surprise off of her face. "Yes ma'am. Please call me Pansy."

The woman had the most baby blue eyes she had ever seen, with raven black hair. She was beautiful!

"My name is Elena Demitru. I am your Romanian guide until we get you to the office of Mr. Richmond. From there, he will owl your mentor and get you started," She said matter of fact tone.

This Ministry seemed bigger than the one in London, but it could be because Pansy was seeing it for the first time.

They took an elevator that announced all the floors they were passing: one called Animagus Depart, another called the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, and then finally-

"Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical creatures."

Motioning her to follow, Elena strode swiftly and elegantly, in a direct path to a cubicle where a middle-aged man sat. He looked up, his glasses at the tip of his nose.

"Good morning Elena. Are you bringing me another student for Charlie?" He pushed his glasses back up his face and studied Pansy. She raised her eyebrows, trying not to flinch at the familiar name, and stuck out her hand eagerly.

"Pleased to meet you, sir. My name is Pansy Parkinson. But please…. call me Pansy." He stood up and shook her hand gently, with a big grin on his face.

"Well then, Ms. Pansy, my name is Alex Richmond. Since we are skipping the formalities, I must insist you call me Alex," he said smiling and releasing her hand gently. "Let me send my owl, Percius, to your mentor," He motioned for her to take his chair, "It won't take but a few minutes."

"Since you're settled here, Mr. Richmond, I shall take my leave. I have another student arriving for Clearwater soon," Elena turned her focus on Pansy, who was sitting perfectly straight, "I wish you the best, Ms. Parkinson, and we shall meet again," she turned from her and made her way back to the elevator. Alex gave a small smile and disappeared down the hall, his quill and a piece of parchment already in his hand.

Pansy leaned back in her chair, trying to put a face to the name, Charlie, that was mentioned. Surely this was a coincidence: a Charlie who specializes in dragons. Her musings took her back to her first year at Hogwarts, listening to Draco go on about Potter and his clowns getting away with helping that big oaf, Hagrid and his baby dragon. Draco didn't deserve to get detention for that. She remembered the Weasel bragging about his brother coming to take the dragon with him back to..

"Oh my..." Pansy shifted in her seat, her heart pounding. There was no way she was going to be working with a Weasley. Just As she was trying to come up with a plan to ask Alex to reassign her to a different mentor, she saw him walking towards her with a grin on his face. She stood up.

"Good news, Ms. Pansy! Charlie has some free time today, so he will be here shortly to get you started. The next two days will be the introductions, and a tour of where you will be working. Then if Charlie feels you are ready, you will meet the current dragons we are studying." Alex smiled and tilted his head. Was he always so… chipper?

"Erm- Not to sound rude, but, who exactly is this Charlie?" Pansy put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to one side, biting her lip, "No offense or anything, but I wasn't told who exactly I would be working with, only that he is the best all around the world at what he does," she paused, slyly softening her features as she continued, "I'm familiar with a similar Charlie, and if he is in fact who I believe he is, I'm afraid we will run into a conflict of interest problem. Pansy stepped closer to Alex and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Alex shifted uncomfortably. His regular chipper demeanor faltered slightly, surprised at the sudden change in Pansy's mood. He narrowed his eyes at her, and in a serious, yet calm tone he said, "Ms. Pansy, Charlie Weasley is the best and only dragon expert we have that allows students under his wing. I'm sorry, but you either need to take it or leave it."

Pansy was surprised that Alex was being so austere with her. He clearly is not familiar with the Parkinson name and what that means.

"I want to work with dragons more than anything, _Alex,_ but if I have to work with a Weasley, then I would rather take my studying elsewhere. If I have to wait a while longer to work first handedly with these beasts, so be it. But you are _not_ kicking me out of this program my father has paid for. And you _will_ allow me to do this extra studying. If not, my father will hear about this, and your job will be diminished."

Pansy didn't care any longer if she sounded bratty or cross. She wasn't used to being denied in her requests, and she surely won't allow it to start now. Working with a Weasley? What would her dear Draco say?

" _Pansy,_ we don't offer anything above or below what you have already been given the opportunity to do. I am aware who the Parkinson's are. I am not frightened. If you don't want to work with Charlie, then don't. But he is the only one willing to-" Alex was cut off when someone cleared their throat behind Pansy.

"Charlie is the only one willing to do what?" Wide-eyed Pansy spun around and felt her skin grow hot. This couldn't be Charlie, could it? Standing straight with his head slightly tilted. Pansy noticed he had a lot of shiny scars on his arms, but under those scars were muscles that would make any sane woman swoon. Her eyes trailed to his jaw. She could imagine planting her lips along his jawline. Wait… what? Pansy blinked, and turned from his luring blue orbs, electricity coursing through her. Alex shifted beside her, undoubtedly feeling the aftershocks of their blatant chemistry.

"Charlie! Pansy and I were just talking about-" Alex began quickly, but was cut off by an eager Pansy. She sprung forward, hand outstretched, forgetting all about this man being a blood-traitor.

"We were just talking about how excited I am to get my hands on those beasts!" Pansy gave Charlie a sultry smile as they shook hands. He gave a goofy half- grin back.

"Well, it is still early. I can show you a few areas before we catch lunch. Your bag will be safe here, unless you prefer to take it with you." Pansy dropped her bag under the chair, and she followed Charlie down the opposite way she came in. Her life was about to change….

Charlie wasn't too intolerable during the whole ordeal. Granted, he played the role of teacher albeit too well for Pansy's sake, but she didn't mind playing her part of student under his instruction. He handled her witty one-liners with calm countenance, mindful never to overstep that level of professionalism, much to Pansy's surprised disappointment. She wouldn't mind the roles reversed behind closed doors so she can handle him instead.

Finally, the day came when she would be able to meet the dragons in person. The past few weeks had been quite fun, save for her trailing thoughts. When he moved his arms, his muscles bulged, and so did her eyes. At the end of her training, three weeks since she became his pupil, he told her she was ready.

"Okay, Pansy, I have a potential job for you. We have been researching ways to keep new eggs warm on their own. Their mother is sick, and in our special infirmary. The eggs are becoming too exposed to the air, and we need to come up with a better way for them to withstand their own," said Charlie, stopping to look Pansy in the eyes. He looked sad, like he had no hope, She pushed her chest out, standing up straight.

"Don't worry, Charlie! I can do this. Just show me where the eggs are and I'll get to work." She eagerly stood on her tiptoes, her soft hands clasping together. Charlie started laughing.

"Okay, Princess." Pansy's heart sore when he called her that. A wave of shame washed over her. No one besides Draco had ever called her princess before, and she found she rather liked the way it flowed from Charlie's lips. "How about we check out the eggs first before you start throwing charms and spells their way?" His tone was light, and it warmed her to see his sad demeanor dissolve. She nodded, and followed him to the nest.

Upon seeing the hard-shelled casings of the eggs, Pansy's mind instantly went to work. She studied the thickness of the eggshells, reviewed the specifics of the nest, and researched the preferred temperatures of the current ones.

She remembered an incantation she used for her hair, a heating charm to smooth her locks in place, and thought that would be a great place to start. She altered the incantation and modified the wand movement. Using chicken eggs for practice, she cast charm after charm, day after day, determined to prove to Charlie that she was the answer for his problem. The answer for _him._

A few days passed, and then Pansy finally emerged from the coop, hair all over the place, and cheeks pretty flushed. Blood was dripping from her lip, where she bit it in concentration. "Charlie! I did it! I got the eggs to warm up without their mothers or these lamps!" Pansy was very pleased with herself, and was hoping Charlie would be too. He came running up to her with that goofy grin on his face that she was growing to love. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and gently wiped her lip, smiling down at her with a faint glint in his eyes.

"Let me see this charm, Princess." He took out his wand and started bouncing on his feet. Pansy turned and ducked back into the coop.

"I can heat twenty-four eggs at a time, which is about the same weight as a sing dragon egg. I hope you don't mind, but I sorted these eggs into the twenty-four that I needed in order to continue with my experiment." She paused, looking back at Charlie, who was listening intently. "The charm I made is called Apricity. You wave your wand like so…" Pansy knelt down and waved her wand over the eggs in a clockwise motion.

" _Apricity_."

The eggs glowed a light orange color and began to shudder. That's when twenty-four baby chicks started hatching all at once.

"The reason they are hatching, is because I have been working on these eggs for over two days now."

Charlie was amazed. He made Pansy stand up, and hugged her tight. When they broke apart, their eyes met, and the electricity coursed through them again. The same feeling they had in front of Alex at the office. Charlie bent his neck, cupping her chin with his rough hand, and pulled her to him. Their lips met in an explosion of bold, and both felt as though they could remain like this for an eternity.

Reluctantly, Charlie pulled away, his lips curled into that handsome sideways grin.

"Are you ready to try these on a dragon egg now?" Charlie asked, out of breath. Pansy nodded, not sure if she would be able to speak just yet. She wasn't even sure if she would be able to walk! Charlie took her hand and lead her to the nest. It was large an open, where large standalone lamps were placed about the straw, attempting to heat the eggs the best they could.

"Okay. I'll leave you alone so you can concentrate on this. This is pretty important. Just holler if you need me." Said Charlie, hesitating long enough to kiss her chastely on her cheek.

Pansy watched his back as he walked away and let out a breath. She turned to study the egg in front of her. It was large, green, and black. She racked her brain through all the dragon eggs she memorized, and figured that this one might be a Romanian Longhorn. She bent down and touched it, a little paranoid that the mother would come and snatch her head off any moment. That feeling was, though scary, very thrilling, and she was unable to stop the tremors of excitement.

She took out her wand, waved it over the egg, and whispered, a little nervously " _Apricity_." She waited. And waited. And waited some more. She yelled in frustration. "I'll just try again. No big deal." She took a deep breath, waved her wand over the egg again, and said " _Apricity_." The egg glowed a light orange color and shuddered. Pansy kept doing this for three more hours until Charlie came in to check on her.

"You need to go home and get some rest. You can try again tomorrow. It's a dragon egg. It's going to take a while." Charlie pulled her to her feet and tucked her hair behind her ear. And then he apparated them both back to the office. Pansy grabbed her bag and started heading out the door before Charlie caught her hand. "Why don't you let me take you out?"

"Can I take a rain check? I would really like a shower. I'll see you in the morning." Ignoring Charlie's sad look, she took her hand from his, walked into the elevator, and apparated home. She hated to deny him, but she exhausted herself with her work today, and if she was being honest, she was feeling a bit hot herself, and needed to get some rest.

Pansy woke up feeling highly angry with herself. Not only was she unsuccessful with the egg, but she turned down Charlie for a night out together! A night where they could be themselves. Not the teacher and the student roles they were forced to be these past weeks.

Frustrated, she got up and dressed in almost record timing. She made herself breakfast and apparated to the Ministry, and walking to Alex's office, who stood at her presence.

"Pansy! Good news! Charlie has already arrived, and I think you will be glad to hear that the egg stayed warm over night! I'm sure by the end of today, we will have us a baby Romanian Longhorn! Great job!" Pansy's spirit was lifted. She dropped her bag and immediately apparated to the nest where Charlie was waiting for her.

"Did Alex tell you?" Charlie asked with his signature grin. Pansy beamed at him and nodded, throwing herself into his arms. Charlie spun her before placing a soft kiss over her lips.

"If I succeed today, I will let you take me out. Now, go. Go before I skip the rest of the day to spend it with you." Charlie chuckled and went on his way. Pansy got right to work.

Four hours passed, and Pansy called for Charlie. The dragon was almost ready! Just a few more waves of her wand, and he would be ready to see the world.

"What is it?" Charlie came in and looked at the egg. "Wahoo! We are going to have a new Romanian Longhorn! I'm so excited. These, apart for Fireballs, are my absolute favorite dragons! You keep working on this, and I'll go get a few more people. This dragon has a bite to it!" Charlie ran off and Pansy turned to the egg.

" _Apricity_." Pansy waved her wand, and the next thing she knew, there was an explosion as the charm hit the egg. Apparently, the dragon had emerged its head from the egg, and decided to blow some fire right when Pansy did the charm. The next thing she knew was flying backwards through the air and landing on something hard. The air escaped her and she couldn't breathe. She heard yelling, and then Charlie was by her side, tears staining his face.

"I didn't think he was _that_ ready! Pansy, I'm so sorry. We called some medi-wizards. They're on their way! Please. Please hold on!" Charlie kissed Pansy all over her face. What was going on? Was he crying? She felt fine. Until she tried to speak.

"Ch-Ch-Charlie… I…. I can't breathe." Charlie was murmuring. She couldn't see.

"Anapneo! ANAPNEO! WHY ARE NONE OF THESE SPELLS WORKING?" Charlie yelled. He threw his wand and took Pansy into his arms. "We were going out tonight, remember? Stay with me, Princess. Please. You can't leave me just yet. You can't." Pansy shook her head. He kissed her.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. Kiss me again. Please." She saw his face come up to hers and felt their lips touch. She heard the Medi-Wizards show up. She heard them tell Charlie they were too late. She heard his wails. And then she was gone.


End file.
